Puffily

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Displaying a soft and swollen quality in a casual fashion
2. In a manner that shows puffiness or swelling, often seeming soft or expanded
3. Characterized by a swollen appearance, showing a gentle bulging or fullness

Etymology: Puffily is simply "puffy" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" attached, so it describes the manner in which something swells or bulges outward. The base word "puffy" is the more interesting half of the story: it draws on the same imitative sound as "puff," a short burst of breath or wind, so the word's sense of something inflated with air is built directly into its sound. Because the suffix is so regular, "puffily" needs no separate history of its own. English speakers have long attached "-ly" to adjectives to turn them into adverbs, and this formation follows that pattern exactly. Its meaning is therefore best understood by starting from "puffy" and asking how a thing moves, sits, or looks when it swells softly outward.

Synonyms: swollen, bulging, inflated, fluffy, plumply

Antonyms: deflated, flat, thin, skinny, slim